Nov 15, 201203:38 PM

Swing Set: Cruising Full Time

Upon Further Review...

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We had attached our bigger spare Danforth to the remaining anchor line, so we could still use our windlass while we waited for the new anchor to come in, and when we returned to the boat after our walk, we found that Swing Set had slipped back on her anchor. We were lucky that it didn't run into to two sailboats we had been anchored between. Embarrassed, I moved over to a more open spot to avoid a similar mishap.

Yesterday we took our boat over to the dock at Gary and Judy's, so we could remove the anchor line and take it up to Sea and Shore, where Dick was going to splice new chain onto our remaining line. Not sure if you can tell from the picture, but Swing Set is in a slip more suited to a 20-foot boat and is sticking her nose far out into the canal. I'm not sure if I'd have the audacity to attempt docking like this on a busy weekend, but only two boats came by, and they made it past easily.

I had some chain hanging in our anchor locker since we left St. Louis, and thinking it was only 10 feet or so, decided to give it to Gary or Dick, but I discovered that we had 25 feet of G4 chain, perfect to splice onto our remaining line. Gary and I loaded the chain and line into his car and hauled it all into Sea and Shore. Dick did a fine job of splicing the chain onto the "new" end of our anchor line, saving us about $400 in the process. He didn't charge for the splicing, so I splurged and bought a grappling hook to use in another hunt for our missing anchor. We're sure to find it now that we have a new one.

Back at the condo, Gary and I installed the new anchor and ground tackle while Rosie did some laundry. When the work was done, we gathered around their pool and had an impromptu party of sorts. Although we knew Denny and Sharon Vermilye would be coming with their daughter and grand daughter, but some other neighbors joined in too. We BBQ'd and sat around the pool way past dark. We might have had a beer or two.

I should have slept all night like a log, but was up at 3 a.m. I settled a computer issue we had with our email account, and before you know it, I'm writing the blog. The nice thing about it is that I can go right back to bed, and that's just what I'm about to do.